Model Code

This is the place to discuss disclosure of possible conflicts of interest at the point where they arise, that is, where an official or employee's continuing participation in a matter becomes a matter of concern because of a conflict between his or her government role and his or her other roles, business, professional, or personal.

This is the place to discuss the protection from mistreatment by superiors of municipal employees who file complaints or act as witnesses in ethics proceedings. Significant issues include the need and effectiveness of such protection, and the language necessary to make it effective as well as to prevent officials and employees from hiding behind it to make political attacks. Please share your experiences with various sorts of whistle-blower protection, as well as with instances where the lack of it has made a serious difference.

Following Mark Davies, I have placed definitions not at the front of the Code, where they usually appear, but at the end of the Ethics Provisions section. The reasoning behind this choice is that definitions should not be as important as they often are. Often, definitions include significant content, so that officials and employees must read the definitions before they can know what they are required to do. It is better to have officials focus on the plain meaning of ethics provisions, knowing that no extra duties will be imposed in the definitions, that there are no traps hidden there.

This is the place to discuss the establishment and the role of an Ethics Commission. The most important issue here is an Ethics Commission's independence: how important it is and how best a municipality can achieve it. With respect to EC independence and competence, please share your thoughts or experiences regarding regional and state Ethics Commissions vs. municipal ECs.

This is the place to discuss the Ethics Commission's jurisdiction, powers, and duties. The most controversial matter here is over whom an Ethics Commission should have jurisdiction: elected officials, unionized employees, consultants, candidates, people and entities that do business with the city or apply for something from the city, former officials and employees (and if so, for how long?)?

Often referred to as "Financial Disclosure," a term that makes it seem more invasive than it actually is, annual disclosure is an important, but controversial way to get officials and employees to consider their potential conflicts of interest on an annual basis, and to let the public know about such potential conflicts.

Applicant disclosure is the form of disclosure that least often appears in municipal ethics codes, not because it is controversial, but because it is not even discussed (although forms of it might appear in other laws and regulations).

Please share your experiences with applicant disclosure that appears in or outside of ethics codes, and your thoughts about its importance, and form, in ethics codes.

Like penalties, the topic of advisory opinions appears in both the ethics provision and administration sections of the Model Code.

Advisory opinions are the most important of an Ethics Commission's responsibilities, and often the most underutilized. Regular use of this option, and the creation of a body of opinions, can go far to providing concrete guidance to municipal officials and employees. It can also prevent many violations of the ethics code.

This is the place to share opinions about and experiences with waivers and exclusions (or "exemptions"). Waivers can be a controversial topic, so arguments for and against, and especially good and bad experiences with waivers will be helpful to communities considering them. Another important topic is the standards that are set for obtaining waivers.

<h2>102. Exclusions from the Code of Ethics and from Transactional Disclosure.</h2>

The provisions of 100 and 101 of this code do not require recusal or transactional disclosure as a result of:

This is the place to provide opinions and recommendations regarding ethics education. Please suggest alternative language to what is below, and please share your experiences with ethics education, and how such experiences can be included in an ethics code, as well as other means to ensure that effective ethics training is provided. Other issues to discuss include who should receive ethics education, who should provide or be reponsible for the provision of ethics education, and how this education should be funded.